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It’s a never-ending skill with lots of approaches and therefore outcomes, but at its most basic, here are the mechanical steps. Another way is just to feel it and your heart will know the chords, but if you specifically want to follow a theoretical method, this is it:
1) assumptions: the song’s going to stay in a single key, not modulate; it’s not going to have subsitutions; it’s not going to have any borrowed chords (eg secondary dominants).
Some of the above assumptions may turn out to be not true, but I’m just trying to keep it simple. Then the ‘mechanical’ steps are:
1) from the melody, work out the key. In other words, work out the home note, and whether it’s major or minor or ambiguous. You can’t progress until you are sure of this. Write it down. Let’s assume it’s C major. The first and last chords are likely (but not guaranteed) to be C major.
- write the diatonic chords within the key. For C major that’s C Dm Em F G Am Bdim C.
- next, a good idea is to identify common progressions. In approximate order of commonness they’d be:
151: C G C
1451: C F G C
1251: C Dm G C
15641: C G Am F C
16451: C Am F G C
1 b3(7) b6 7(7) bIV: B D G Bb Eb (I'm kidding, that's Giant Steps)
(notice how most end with 51 - that’s called a "perfect cadence" - there’s probably a 50% chance your last two chords will be a 51, and a 25% chance the 3rd to last will be a 4 or 2. But I digress)
- next do the Roly thing of finding a bassline that complements the tune. It doesn’t have to be a bassline per se, it could be a sort of duet. But the bassline is what you’re looking for. It will probably be no faster than the actual melody, and quite possibly slower. What’s important is that this under-tune perfectly goes along with the tune. There are methods for this step, but easier is to just hum and see what works - your heart will find a way.
But there are loads of alternatives to the three blind mice tune you could dream up. Like C C7 F. Or C E7 Am. (Both of these occur in Rachmaninov’s 4th piano concerto ) - this is where it ceases to be purely mechanical, and where artistic choice comes in.
That’s the simplest process to get you going on the simplest tunes. It will get you a certain way along the journey but unless your songs are REALLY simple, you will encounter lots of times where the song deviates. You will find borrowed chords, major 5 chords where you’re expecting minor, modes, parallel chords, modulations, unfamiliar progressions, interrupted cadences, secondary dominants, ambiguous keys, blues notes, substitutions, the list is endless. If you want to carry on the theory-based method, rather than relying on your ear, which is cleverer than your brain, then maybe post some toons and we can comment?
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
First thing I found today was this:
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
I know a lot of people may not like this but it's worth watching the Beatles Get Back on Disney+ I watched it twice and compared to today they recorded and wrote their songs with little equipment they never even had a tuner like we have today.
What the Beatles had was a good knowledge of music popular & rock n roll .
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.